Instrument for marking cattle and other animals



Z. G. KETCHUM.

INSTRUMENT FOR MARKING CATTLE AND OTHER ANIMALS.

\ APPLICATION FILED mm, 1919.

' 1,361,338, Patented Dec. 7, 1920.

UNITED STATES ZEBULUM GOLVIN' KETCHUM, OF OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA.

INSTRUMENT FOR MARKING CATTLE AND OTHER ANIMALS.

Application filed. April 2, 1919.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ZEBULUM COLVIN KnTorrUM, a subject of the King of Great Britain, and resident of the city of Ottawa, in the Province of Ontario, Dominion of Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Instruments for Marking Cattle and other Animals, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in instrument for marking cattle and other animals. Heretofore it has been the usual practice in marking cattle and other animals to puncture the ear and insert therein a metallic tag or label having inscribed or printed thereon the owners name or private mark, and after passing such metallic tag through the puncture in the ear, the tag is closed by pressing the two ends into abutting position in an endeavor to prevent the tag becoming loosened and falling off. There is no means for preventing the tag opening and falling off, an objection which sometimes happens in practice.

The operation is rather a laborious one as it occupies two or three different steps and moreover causes considerable pain to the animal, and in many cases a festering of the wound in the animals ear results, due to the fact that the operators do not take the necessary steps to allow of a free circulation of air between the ear of the animal and the metallic tag.

In the present invention all these objections are eliminated and the tag is placed in the ear of the animal in a single operation,

and the instrument is rendered fool-proof,

so that there is no possibility of a slip being made in marking an animal.

With the above and other objects in view the invention consists essentially of the improved construction hereinafter described and set forth in the following specification and accompanying drawings forming part of the same.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a perspective view of the improved instrument. I

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation of the instrument.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the ear tag or label open.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the tag or label closed.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. '7, 1920.

Serial No. 287,005.

Like characters of reference refer to like parts in the several figures.

Referring to the drawings, A represents the improved instrument comprising a pair of levers 10 and 11 pivotally connected intermediate of their length at 12, the said levers being provided with a pair of longer arms 13 and 14: which form hand grips, while the shorter arms are provided with longitudinally extending grooves 15 and 16 in the inner faces thereof.

By reference to the drawings it will be seen that the groove 16 only extends partially of the length of the shorter arm, and a shoulder 17 is provided against which the offset end 18 of the resilient clamping member 19 abuts.

This resilient clamping member 19 is secured. in position by rivets 20, and the free arm 21 is adapted to be engaged by the groove 15 in the opposite arm of the instrument when the instrument has been closed.

The tag or label which I utilize for marking the animal is shown in Fig. 3 and consists of a U-shaped member 23 having an offset pointed end 24:, the other end being slightly offset as shown at 25 to form a stop which will rest against the ear of the animal for an object which will be made clear hereafter.

The member 23 is inserted in the clamping member 19 and firmly held in position and cannot fall out or become detached prior to being used, and the member 23 then embraces the ear of the animal, whereupon pressure is brought to bear upon the longer arms 13 and 14 of the instrument, closing the short arms and causing the pointed end 24 of the tag to puncture the ear of the animal and so secure and clench the tag in position.

During this operation the offset pointed end 24 of the tag or label enters the arcuate recess 26 in the groove 15 and is bent on the opposite ofiset end 25 of the tag or label and so clenches the tag, which cannot under any circumstances work loose or fall out.

Before securing the tag on the animals ear it is in expanded position and is frictionally embraced by the clamp 19, whereas when the tag is closed and clenched it is smaller than the clamp and thus instantly released therefrom when the instrument is opened, so that if an animal pulls its head away after marking the tag is released from the instrument but is clenched on the animal.

The offset end 25 of the tag prevents the absolute tight closing of the tag on the ear of the animal, so that a space is left, around which air may circulate and thus the wound is prevented from festering. The operation is also completed in one single step which is a great improvement and more humane than. the old process which occupied various steps and was rather painful.

As many changes could be made in the above construction, and many apparently widely different embodiments of my invention, within the scope of the claim, constructed without departing from the spirit or scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the accompanying specification and drawings, shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. l Vhat I claim as may invention is:

An instrument of the class described, comprising a pair of levers pivoted intermediate of their ends, the shorter arms of the levers having longitudinal grooves therein, one of the grooves having a shoulder, and a resili ent U-shaped clamping member having an offset end abutting the shoulder and secured to one of the shorter arms, as and for the purpose specified.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

ZEBULUM COLVIN KETOI-IUM. 

